World Superbike Championship Records and Stats

Leading winners

It was almost 30 years ago since the very first World Superbike Championship round took place in 1988 and Davide Tardozzi was the very first race winner at Donington Park. However, this round was unique as for the only time in the championship’s history, the race results were combined to determine an overall winner; 1981 500cc World Champion Marco Lucchinelli got the verdict with first and second in the two legs after Tardozzi crashed out of the second race.

In total, 72 riders have now taken race wins (former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden being the latest in 2016) with the Championship now in its 30th season but the leading rider when it comes to race wins is Carl Fogarty, with all but four of his 59 wins coming on Ducati machinery. Foggy grabbed his first win in 1992 on a privateer Ducati 888 and the following year he joined the official factory team. Except for 1996 when he jumped ship to ride the Castrol Honda RC45, he remained with the Bologna factory for the rest of the decade and had it not been for injury ending his career early in 2000, he would certainly have racked up a whole lot more.

Foggy taking another WSB title.

His total currently puts him 5 clear of triple World Champion Jonathan Rea. The Northern Irishman has only ridden for Honda and Kawasaki in his time in Superbikes but with 39 wins in the last three seasons alone, he’s rocketed up the chart and, given his dominance of the last three years, he should eventually overhaul Fogarty’s total in 2018.

Australian rider Troy Bayliss is now third with all 52 of his race wins coming on the Ducatis. He replaced Fogarty in the factory team and went on to notch up three world championships between 2001 and 2008. Just when it looked like he’d beat Fogarty’s record total, he retired as champion at the end of the 2008 season when more wins and titles would surely have come his way.

Despite never having won the title, Noriyuki Haga still has the fourth highest total of wins, 43, with the Japanese ace being victorious on Yamaha, Ducati and Aprilia machinery.

Double champion Troy Corser is next on the list with 33 wins, a total matched in 2017 by Tom Sykes, and more champions follow with Colin Edwards two behind on 31 and 1991 and 1992 victor Doug Polen on 27. The latter’s tally particularly is impressive as 26 of his 27 wins came in two seasons!

Seven wins in 2017 saw Chaz Davies join him on 27 wins with Carlos Checa, Raymond Roche, Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri the other riders to have taken more than 20 wins, the last named taking a single win on his return to racing in 2017.

15 wins or more

Racer

Wins

1.

Carl Fogarty

59 (1992 – 1999)

2.

Jonathan Rea

54 (2009 – present)

3.

Troy Bayliss

52 (2000 – 2008)

4.

Noriyuki Haga

43 (1997 – 2010)

5.

Troy Corser

33 (1995 – 2006)

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Tom Sykes

33 (2012 – present)

7.

Colin Edwards

31 (1998 – 2002)

8.

Doug Poulen

27 (1989 – 1992)

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Chaz Davies

27 (2013 – present)

9.

Carlos Checa

24 (2008 – 2012)

10.

Raymons Roche

23 (1989 – 1992)

11.

Max Biaggi

21 (2007 – 2012)

12.

Marco Melandri

19 (2011 – 2014)

13.

Pierfrancesco Chili

17 (1995 – 2004)

14.

Giancarlo Falappa

16 (1989 – 1994)

=

Neil Hodgson

16 (2000 – 2003)

=

James Toseland

16 (2003 – 2007)

Leading podium finishes – Solos (40 or more)

No less than 20 riders have stood on the podium 40 times or more since the 1988 World Superbike Championship and it reads like a veritable ‘who’s who’ of the sport with the chart packed with legendary names from the Superbike world.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the length of his Superbike career, it’s Troy Corser who leads the way with his total of 130 rostrums spanning 17 seasons. With the podiums coming for no less than five manufacturers, that shows both his consistency and adaptability and perhaps the only surprise is that his career only yielded two Championships.

Troy Corser

Second on the chart is another rider who had a long and successful career in the BSB paddock, Noriyuki Haga although he has the unenviable tag of being the most successful rider never to have won the title.

Jonathan Rea now has the third highest total with a staggering 24 podiums in 2017 seeing him overhaul Carl Fogarty. His 109 appearances in the top three was achieved over a period of just nine years, the same as Rea, which proves just how dominant he was during the 1990s.

Fogarty retired early due to injury, so one can only wonder how many more could he have racked up and the fifth and final rider with a century of podiums is Tom Sykes, the Brit moving up from seventh during the 2017 season.

Next up is Troy Bayliss whose 94 rostrums were also achieved over a nine-year period. He retired as Champion at the end of 2008 when very much still at the top of his game so, like Fogarty, could have racked up a lot more rostrums.

Aaron Slight in seventh overall despite only having taken 13 wins with Colin Edwards and Max Biaggi next up but they’re being closed in rapidly by Chaz Davies and Ducati team-mate Marco Melandri.

119 riders have now finished on a World Superbike Championship podium.

Racer

Podiums

1.

Troy Corser

130 (1994 – 2010)

2.

Noriyuki Haga

116 (1996 – 2011)

3.

Jonathan Rea

112 (2009 – present)

4.

Carl Fogarty

109 (1992 – 2000)

5.

Tom Sykes

100 (2008 – present)

6.

Troy Bayliss

94 (2000 – 2008)

7.

Aaron Slight

87 (1989 – 1999)

8.

Colin Edwards

75 (1995 – 2002)

9.

Max Biaggi

71 (2007 – 2015)

10.

Chaz Davies

67 (2012 – present)

11.

Pierfrancesco Chili

61 (1995 – 2004)

=

James Toseland

61 (2002 – 2010)

12.

Raymond Roche

57 (1989 – 1992)

13.

Carlos Checa

49 (2008 – 2012)

14.

Fabrizio Pirovano

47 (1988 – 1995)

15.

Stephane Mertens

45 (1988 – 1993)

16.

Neil Hodgson

41 (1996 – 2003)

=

Sylvain Guintoli

41 (2011 – Present)

18.

Doug Polen

40 (1989 – 1994)

Most titles – 2 or more

Since 1988, 17 riders have been crowned World Superbike Champion but only nine of them have been victorious on more than one occasion and only two riders have won the title three times or more. The first to achieve that feat was the King of Superbikes himself, Carl Fogarty, with his four titles coming in a six year period between 1994 and 1999. He also finished second overall in 1993 and 1997 to further cement his status as the greatest Superbike racer ever.

Another rider with three titles to his name is Troy Bayliss with his three titles, like Fogarty’s, all coming on Ducati machinery. The Australian replaced Foggy in the factory Ducati team and didn’t disappoint with his titles coming in 2001, 2006 and 2008.

They were joined on three titles in 2017 by Jonathan Rea. Having become the first rider since Fogarty (1998/99) to retain his title after back to back success in 2015 and 2016, the Ulsterman then bettered that achievement this season becoming the first rider in WSB history to win three successive Championships.

Six riders have taken two titles, the first being Fred Merkel who took the Championship on the RC30 Rumi Honda in its first two years. Fellow Americans Doug Polen and Colin Edwards also took two titles as did Troy Corser, the Australian’s two titles spanning the biggest gap of any rider at nine years. James Toseland and Max Biaggi are the two other riders to have enjoyed double title-winning success.

Titles have been won by American, French, English, Australian, Italian and Spanish riders.

Racer

Titles

1.

Carl Fogarty

4 (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999)

2.

Troy Bayliss

3 (2001, 2006, 2008)

3.

Jonathan Rea

3 (2015, 2016, 2017)

4.

Fred Merkel

2 (1988, 1989)

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Doug Polen

2 (1991, 1992)

=

Troy Corser

2 (1996, 2005)

=

Colin Edwards

2 (2000, 2002)

=

James Toseland

2 (2004, 2007)

=

Max Biaggi

2 (2010, 2012)

WSS Statistics (1997 – Present)

World Supersport wins – 10 or more

First contested in 1997, the World Supersport Championship has now completed 20 seasons and such has been the competition over that period, just seven riders have wins in double figures.

Mr Supersport himself, Kenan Sofuoglu, has more than double the total of the second best rider with his five wins in 2016 moving him on to a total of 38, comfortably clear of Frenchman Fabien Foret, the latter having one of the longest careers in the Supersport division.

Double World Champion Sebastien Charpentier is third on the list with 13 wins, one ahead of Eugene Laverty whose victories were all taken in just a two-period – he was extremely unlucky not to have taken a title in at least one of these years.

Jules Cluzel’s solitary win in 2016 saw him move level with Laverty and with the Frenchman set to compete in the class once more in 2017 he has every chance of moving further up the chart. World Champions Paolo Casoli and Karl Muggeridge both have 11 wins and are the only other two riders to have won on more than ten occasions.

Racer

Wins

1.

Kenan Sofuoglu

43 (2006 – present)

2.

Fabien Foret

16 (2001 – 2013)

3.

Sebastien Charpentier

13 (1998 – 2006)

4.

Eugene Laverty

12 (2009 – 2010)

=

Jules Cluzel

12 (2012 – present)

6.

Paolo Casoli

11 (1997 – 2001)

=

Karl Muggeridge

11 (2000 – 2004)

World Supersport podiums – 20 or more

Just 12 riders have stood on the podium 20 times or more since the 1997 World Supersport Championship but it contains many of the division’s leading lights.

As expected, given his dominance over the years, it’s Kenan Sofouglu who leads the way with a whopping 78 podiums at present, over 30 clear of the next nearest rider Fabien Foret, whose 44 podiums were achieved over an impressive 14 seasons.

Kenan Sofuoglu at Brands Hatch WSB 2008.

Jules Cluzel’s six podiums in 2017 moved him up to third overall with a total of 33 whilst the only other rider with more than 30 podiums is perennial bridesmaid Broc Parkes. The Australian never won a title and only took six wins but took second overall twice and finished on the rostrum an impressive 32 times.

Frenchman and 1999 Champion Stephane Chambon is next up with 29 podiums, many of these coming on the Alstare Suzuki, with Japan’s Katsuaki Fujiwara and Australia’s Kevin Curtain the only other two riders, other than Parkes, to have taken 20 rostrums or more but never get their hands on the number one plate.

Racer

Podiums

1.

Kenan Sofuoglu

85 (2006 – present)

2.

Fabien Foret

44 (2000 – 2013)

3.

Jules Cluzel

33 (2012 – present)

4.

Broc Parkes

32 (2003 – 2012)

5.

Stephane Chambon

29 (1997 – 2002)

6.

Paolo Casoli

23 (1997 – 2001)

=

Sebastien Charpentier

23 (1998 – 2006)

=

Andrew Pitt

23 (2001 – 2009)

=

Sam Lowes

23 (2011 – 2013)

10.

Kevin Curtain

21 (2002 – 2006)

=

Katsuaki Fujiwara

21 (2002 – 2007)

12.

Karl Muggeridge

20 (2000 – 2004)

Most titles – 2 or more

Since 1997, 12 riders have been crowned World Supersport Champion but only three of them have been victorious on more than one occasion, perhaps no surprise given how competitive the Championship’s been, especially in the early years when they were referred to as the ‘axe murderers’!!

The only rider to have won more than two titles is Kenan Sofuoglu with the Turkish rider having spent the majority of his career on the 600cc machines. 2016 saw him claim his fifth title with Frenchman Sebastien Charpentier and Australian Andrew Pitt, the only other riders to have taken two titles or more.

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